Equine Equity: Horse Slaughter Prevention Saves Money

While all the talk coming out of Washington is about cutting spending, a few politicians are quietly trying to restore funding for the slaughter of horses for human consumption - which would also necessitate resurrecting an expensive federal inspection program that ended six years ago!

To prevent this, Reps. Dan Burton (R-IN) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) reintroduced the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 2966. Not only would such a ban end the abuse of over 100,000 American horses who are being hauled to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered for human consumption, but it would also save taxpayers millions of dollars per year. When the inspection program was shut down in 2005, it was costing taxpayers $5 million a year, almost exclusively for the benefit of foreign interests. Restoring it now would cost much more - and require an increase in federal bureaucracy and regulations as well.

Rep. Burton expressed his belief in "treating all horses as humanely and respectfully as possible." Sharing that sentiment, Rep. Schakowsky said, "Protecting animals ought to be a bipartisan issue and this bill is a strong step in the right direction."